The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-03-16
CHEWING TOBACCO.
The Habit Decreasing in the United
States.

mdIlulHCtuICTS u lOD1CCO say tuoI luc
habit of chewing is rapidly becoming as
obsolete as that of snuff taking among
workingmen. You will find some OF
the older men of wealth and refinement
who chew now a-day7." said large
dealer, ''but they acquired the habit
years ago. when it VAS not thought
vulgar or disreputabie to chew. Some
of the older judges chew, and there
were members of the Supreme Court of
the United States who were not easy on
the bench unless they had quid. A
very few clergymen use tobacco in this
way, and not a few of the old lawyers
and other professional men of years.
But In the younger generation of cult
waited men of good manners there are
very few, mparatiyely, now to be
found who chew. The young men of
to-day rarely acquire the habit, and l
predict within the next few years users
of the weed in this form will be only
those who belong TO the less cultivated
society. 1t is now regarded very bad
form to chew, though thirty years ago
1t was not. No; chewing is going the
way of snuf-taking.
Many OF our most prominent public
men have fought hard to overcome this
habit. In Chicago and ST. Louis chew
ing is now regarded as vulgar by
persons who make any pretensions 10
social standing, and many of the devices
employed by men to overcome the
habit are amusing. At the late trial of
Maxwell in st. Louis the three proseeu-
ting officers were noticed constantly
chewing during the trial, and one of
them said: Yes, we are chewing spruce
gum, and we are doing it to break the
habit OF chewing tobacco, and if you
| will notice on the street you VIII see
three men out of five Il mean, of course,
those who are not workingmen) vigor-
ously working their jaws. They are
| chewing gum, for there seems to be a
tacit agreement among gentlemen here
to quit chewing tobacco"
Many men now carry strip OF slip
perry elm in their pocket, and when
they feel the old craving come over
them, then they bite off a bit and chew.
it. A downtown druggist said that he
sold great deal of hcorice root to men
who were trying to break the tobacco
habit. Roscoe Conkling used to chew.
although he never used tobacco pre-
pared for chewing. He had habit of
taking good cigar, cutting it in two
in the middle, then placing the cut end
OF one of the halves between his teeth
he would chew 1t. He did not take what
Ben Butler is so fond of, 4 dry smoke as
it is called, bet ne eaeved the cigar. He
determined to break this habit, and to
help him the more easily to conquer it,
he filed his pockets with lozenges or
other choice candies every morning.
COnkling has very sweet tooth, and is
very fond of good candy. The last
three or four years he was in the Senate
he was rarely without iozenge or
other candy in his mouth. Senator
Eaton. and Senator Jones of Florida were
both pets of Conkling. and both being
very fond of candy, almost daily per-
formed this little comedy: Eaton would
stroll over to Conkling's desk and chat
few moments, never failing to evince
the profound admiration FOR Conkling
that he had. By and by he would say
"Conkling, what do you do when your
throat is dry and husky?" Thereupon
Conkling would produce box in which
were the sugar plums, and Eaton taking
two or three, would stroll leisurely
away with one In his mouth. By and
by Jones would walk across the aisle
and make his obeisance to Conkling.
1AcA HS hOuiO COllSn -dnO uclu dHu
clear his throat. Out would come the
box, and Jones made himself happy
with two or three candies after suffi-
cient hesitation about taking them
Once when Jones of Nevada was max
ing speech. and his voice grew husky,
Conkling arose. pulled his box of CON
fections from his pocket, and presented
it to the miner with as much formality
and dignity as though comforting the
Order of the Garter. He afterwards
told Jones that if he would eat more
candy and use less tobacco he would
have no trouble with his voice.
But If he habit of smoking is decreas-
ing, that of smoking is gaining. The
coming generation, by all signs, will ali
smoke-New York Sun